# Temporal Arts Aesthetic Experience **Opening (not a real abstract):** In this paper we examine the role that attention plays in aesthetic experiences in order to shed light on its nature. In particular, we highlight a somewhat underestimated aspect of aesthetic experience of works of art: the hybrid interplay between active and passive processes. Although this may seem common-sensical, philosophers have approached this issue somewhat idiosyncratically, which resulted in over-emphasizing the active aspect. In the present work, we will focus on the passive aspects of aesthetic experiences prompted by works of art. Importantly, this issue of activity/passivity arose in discussions concerning engagement practices: either the experience of artworks is entirely receptive, eliciting automatic responses, or the audience must actively engage with the artwork. What appears to be a conundrum may ultimately be as revealing of the **Authors:** [[Vincenzo Grasso, Marco Mattei]]